Bulldogs ready for Henley

Baker’s magic number is 2.

The Bulldogs need two more wins to claim the Class 4A state baseball chamionship trophy.

The first step toward that goal comes Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the 4A semifinals against the Henley Hornets in Klamath Falls. Baker advanced to the semifinal round by defeating defending champion Newport 5-4 in the quarterfinals. Henley qualified for the semis with a come-from-behind 8-7 win over Gladstone.

“Henley is a team that’s pretty scrappy,” said Baker coach Dan Blankenship.

“They’ve been hanging around in every game in the playoffs, giving themselves a chance to win.”

The Baker coach said the Bulldogs (24-3) don’t plan to change what they’ve done to get this far.

“We just have to keep doing what we’ve done all year,” said Blankenship. “Play good defense, and throw strikes. If we can do that we can create a lot of outs for ourselves.

“And the boys have hit the ball well. If the boys continue to do that we’ll win a lot of games.”

Catcher Grant Marcum (3 homers, 14 RBIs) will lead off. Cole Brown (4 HR, 24 RBI) will bat second and pitch.

Derek Blankenship (3 HR, 36 RBI) will hit third and play shortstop. He will be followed by first baseman Dekker Smith (8 HR, 35 RBI).

Jordan Harlow (7 HR, 46 RBI) will bat fifth and play second base. Trace Richardson (6 HR, 30 RBI) bats sixth in center field. Jon Woolard (2 HR, 16 RBI) bats seventh in right field.

Will Barr (1 HR, 12 RBI) plays third base and bats eighth. Coleman Lay will be the designated hitter and bat ninth.

Blankenship and Harlow were recently named first-team all-state infielders. Brown was named third-team pitcher, Marcum third-team catcher, and Smith third-team utility player.

“We just have to believe we’re going to hit anybody they put on the mound,” Coach Blankenship said.

Brown (7-3) will start on the mound for the Bulldogs, and Blankenship (3-0, 2 saves) will pitch as well.

“We’ll continue to go with those two guys all the way through,” Coach Blankenship said.

Henley rallies from 4-run deficit

Henley (16-11) reached the semifinals by rallying from a 6-2 deficit for an 8-7 win at Gladstone.

Sophomore Doug North hit a game-tying solo home run, then junior Jake Herr drove home Brandon Montgomery with two outs in the fifth inning for the win.

North is a first-team Skyline League pitcher. Senior infielder Ethan Pace, senior catcher Kyle Hankins and junior first baseman David Rosser also are first-team all-league.

Herr, an outfielder, and infielder Zane Fernlund are second-team all-league.

Honorable mention went to utility players Stephan Bigby and John Cullen.